Kabaddi World Cup 2016: India captain Anup Kumar to end international career

Ahmedabad: Indian skipper Anup Kumar on Sunday informed he will go into international retirement after the ongoing Kabaddi World Cup.

File image of Anup Kumar. Image credit: twitter/@IamAnupK

One of India's marquee kabaddi exponents, he however said that he will continue playing the Pro-Kabaddi League (PKL).

"Now I look myself as a professional player. I want young players to come up so I will retire from the international arena after the World Cup," Anup Kumar told media persons here.

"My dream is to win the World Cup and I hope it will become true this year," he added.

Anup Kumar, who had received the Arjuna award in 2012, played his first match with the national team in 2006 during the South Asian Games in Sri Lanka. He became a regular member of the team from then onwards and then rose to become the vice-captain of the national squad under Rakesh Kumar, and was appointed the captain in 2016.

Born in a small village named Palra in Haryana's Gurgaon district and Working as a Deputy Commissioner of Police in the state, he has been an integral part of India's gold medal-winning campaigns at the last two Asian Games.

At the professional arena, Anup Kumar has flourished throughout the three seasons of the PKL. He captained the U Mumba side to the title in the second season of the league in 2015, besides taking them to the final on two other occasions in 2014 and 2016.

He amassed a whopping total of 330 PKL points, out of which 305 have come through his raids and sizzled during the first season of the league for which he was awarded the Most Valuable Player (MVP).